Personalized weight loss: Gene-Tailored drug shows promise
NCT ID NCT03525002
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study tested whether a drug called bromocriptine, which boosts dopamine in the brain, can help people with obesity lose weight. The key twist: the drug's effect may depend on a person's genetic makeup, specifically a gene called FTO. 120 obese adults were given either bromocriptine or a placebo for 18 weeks, and researchers tracked weight changes and brain responses to food cues.
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Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Phase 2
Tests whether the treatment actually works, and watches for side effects, in a larger group.
- Participants
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120 people
The number who actually took part.
- Started
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May 2018
- Finished
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Aug 2024
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 to 70 years
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
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Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Body mass index (BMI) between \>30 kg/m². * Understand and voluntarily sign an informed consent document prior to any study related assessments/procedures. * Females of childbearing potential (FCBP) must agree to utilize a reliable form of contraception simultaneously or practice complete abstinence from heterosexual contact while participating in the study. * Males must agree to use a latex condom during any heterosexual contact while participating in the study and to refrain from donating semen or sperm while participating in this study. Exclusion Criteria: * Women during pregnancy and lactation. * History of hypersensitivity to the investigational medicinal product or to any drug with similar chemical structure or to any excipient present in the pharmaceutical form of the investigational medicinal products. * Participation in other clinical trials or observation period of competing trials up to 30 days prior to this study. * Diabetes mellitus * Treatment with Methyldopa, levodopa, dopamine agonists, metoclopramid, domperidon, glycerol nitrate, griseofulvin, azol-antimycotic drugs, macrolide-antibiotics, octreotide, orlistat, tamoxifen, liraglutide * Any relevant cardiovascular disease, e.g. myocardial infarction, acute coronary syndrome, unstable angina pectoris, Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA), heart failure (NYHA III-IV), stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) * Acute or chronic viral hepatitis or liver cirrhosis * Impaired renal function, defined as estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate (eGFR) ≤ 60 ml/min (MDRD formula) as determined during screening. * Medical history of cancer and/or treatment for cancer within the last 5 years. * Claustrophobia * Any other clinically significant major organ system disease at screening such as relevant gastrointestinal, neurologic, psychiatric, endocrine (i.e. pancreatic), hematologic, malignant, infection or other major systemic diseases making implementation of the protocol or interpretation of the study results difficult. * Presence of any contraindication for the conduct of an MRI investigation, such as cardiac pacemakers, ferromagnetic haemostatic clips in the central nervous system, metallic splinters in the eye, ferromagnetic or electronically operated active devices like automatic cardioverter defibrillators, cochlear implants, insulin pumps and nerve stimulators, prosthetic heart valves etc. * hyperthyroidism * therapy refractary hypertension * peripheral arterial disease * Parkinson´s disease * Known current presence or history of one of the following psychiatric diseases: depression, mania, anxiety and panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, psychosis, addiction * pituitary disease * treatment with bromocriptine during 12 month before entering the trial * dementia * gastric or intestinal ulcer * Persons with limited temperature sensation and / or elevated sensitivity to warming of the body * Persons with a hearing disorder or a increased sensitivity for loud noises * smoking * Refusal to get informed of unexpected detected pathological findings Any other clinical condition that would jeopardize subjects' safety while participating in this clinical trial.
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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University Hospital Cologne
Cologne, Germany
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University Hospital Luebeck
Lübeck, Germany
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University of Tuebingen, Department of Internal Medicine IV
Tübingen, 72076, Germany
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